Barbie to move into El Segundo office with $59M Mattel buy

More than six months after foreclosing an office building in El Segundo, insurer New York Life Insurance has sold the property to Mattel, adding to the toy maker’s footprint in the South Bay city. 

Mattel bought the 168,000-square-foot building at 2160 East Grand Avenue for $59 million, or $351 a square foot, according to property records and financial filings. No loan was recorded in connection with the acquisition, making it likely the Barbie manufacturer paid in cash. 

The office will support Mattel’s North American and international businesses, according to an earnings report, though no further details were provided. 

New York Life, originally a lender on the property, acquired the building from SteelWave and Barings through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure in December, records show, alleviating $53.1 million in unpaid debt. 

SteelWave and Barings bought the building for $63.5 million in 2019, or roughly $378 a square foot. The duo completed a renovation in 2022, the same year it scored the debt from New York Life. 

Mattel, which owns the intellectual property to brands including Barbie, Hot Wheels and Uno, has been building out a movie studio business over the last few years in an effort to capitalize on that IP. Last summer Warner Bros. released a movie based on the company’s big doll franchise with the title “Barbie.”

Its headquarters are at 333 Continental Boulevard in El Segundo, a 325,000-square-foot building the publicly traded company has owned since 1989, records show.